[Dabhand16]

Wii Sports dominates Bafta awards

Nintendo's Wii Sports has swept the board at the 2007 British Academy Video Games Awards in London.
The energetic title took home awards in categories such as gameplay, strategy and simulation, innovation and sports.

The game allows players to compete in onscreen sporting events using the Wii's controller as a tennis racquet, golf club or even bowling ball.

However, the title did not manage to take the coveted best game award which went to Xbox title Bioshock.

The first-person shooter, released in August, is set in an underwater world populated by mutants and mechanical drones. It received acclaim from gamers and the Bafta judges.

The evening ended with Will Wright, creator of The Sims, being awarded a Bafta fellowship in recognition of more than 20 years' work in the industry.

Mr Wright is currently working on the hugely-anticipated life simulation game Spore.

Previous generation

The other eight awards presented throughout the evening were shared by a handful of titles across most of the gaming platforms.


However, games for Sony's latest console, the PlayStation 3 (PS3), did not manage to bag an award. Instead, titles for the powerful next generation console were upstaged by games for its predecessor.

The PS2 game Okami won in the categories of artistic achievement and original score.

The game weaves several Japanese myths and folk stories into an action-adventure.

It features a "celestial brush" that allows gamers to pause the game and draw on the screen using the game controller. Players can add to the scenery, control effects such as the wind or create objects such as bridges to allow them to cross a river.

The PS2 combat title God of War 2 also took home two awards for best story and character as well as technical achievement.

People's award

Other awards, voted for by the expert jury, included best use of audio and action and adventure. Both awards went to Xbox 360 title Crackdown.


The jury also highlighted a game created by a team of five students as the one to watch.

Ragnarawk allows gamers to fight evil using a magical guitar.

The game had previously won two prizes at the Dare to be Digital design competition run by the University of Abertay, Dundee.

Although most of the awards are voted for by the Bafta jury, one prize is voted for by the public.

The gamers award allows people to vote from a shortlist made up from the top-selling games on each platform over the previous year. It was won by Football Manager 2007 for the PC.

The Bafta video games awards are now in their second year, joining the better known television and film awards.

Chairman of the academy, Hilary Bevan Jones said "The academy believes video games have limitless potential to enlighten as well as entertain and our role is to encourage creative excellence in the field, for the benefit of a rapidly growing audience".

Source: BBC

[GainfulShrimp]

Originally Posted by Dabhand16

However, games for Sony's latest console, the PlayStation 3 (PS3), did not manage to bag an award.

Warms the cockles...

[Steve]

I recently read an article that stated that Sony were pleading with developers not to drop the PS as a platform going forward. Apparently the Xbox and Wii game sales figures are far outselling PS3 and developers believe it no longer to be viable.

[Markulous]

Well, if you encourage peeps to think that your console needs changing every couple of months and all you produce is a "better" version than the last......... versus a whole new concept..............

[Steve]

I have not encouraged anyone to buy a console

I don't even own one myself

[Markulous]

A million apologies!

I meant: "If you, the manufacturer....."
and not: "If you, the stirrer......."

And I don't own a console either!